Eartha Kitt and Alice Ghostley Shine
A 50s Broadway revue is filmed here with a backstage story about needing money to finish the show. The bill collector is locked in a closet and the show goes on.
Many of the new faces went on to stardom and solid careers. Others never made it. Surprisingly, this small show produced a couple of hit songs: "Santa Baby" and "Love Is a Simple Thing." The musical numbers come off better than the skits. The production looks incredibly cheap and the dancing is amateurish. Yet....
It's amazing to see Eartha Kitt sizzle in her musical numbers, using her patented growl to add oomph. She could sell a song with the best on them. Alice Ghostley is terrific (who knew she could sing?) in skits and her solo number "The Boston Beguine." Paul Lynde (looking very heavy) is funny is his skits. Carol Lawrence is mostly a dancer here and has great stage presence. Virginia DeLuce (also known as Virginia Wilson) does well with her ongoing "He Takes Me Off His Income Tax." June Carroll has a shining moment singing "Penny Candy." She also wrote many of the songs for this production. Rosemary O'Reilly get to sing "Love Is a Simple Thing." However, Ronny Graham is way over the top as the show's "star." He comes off as a cross between Jerry Lewis and James Whitmore. Robert Clary is just plain obnoxious and gets ways too much screen time. The rest of the cast gets little to do other than chorus work.
Unbilled and missing from the IMDb cast list are Henry Kulky as the bill collector and Robert Emhardt as the rich daddy.
The film was directed by two men and is pretty bad with static cameras and those annoying shots that show us backstage reactions when performers are singing and dancing.
Trivia: Mel Brooks was one of the writers. Robert Clary was married to one of Eddie Cantor's daughters. Grimes and DeLuce won the 1952 Theatre World awards. Kitt's rendition of "C'est Si Bon" was not in the original show.
Many of the new faces went on to stardom and solid careers. Others never made it. Surprisingly, this small show produced a couple of hit songs: "Santa Baby" and "Love Is a Simple Thing." The musical numbers come off better than the skits. The production looks incredibly cheap and the dancing is amateurish. Yet....
It's amazing to see Eartha Kitt sizzle in her musical numbers, using her patented growl to add oomph. She could sell a song with the best on them. Alice Ghostley is terrific (who knew she could sing?) in skits and her solo number "The Boston Beguine." Paul Lynde (looking very heavy) is funny is his skits. Carol Lawrence is mostly a dancer here and has great stage presence. Virginia DeLuce (also known as Virginia Wilson) does well with her ongoing "He Takes Me Off His Income Tax." June Carroll has a shining moment singing "Penny Candy." She also wrote many of the songs for this production. Rosemary O'Reilly get to sing "Love Is a Simple Thing." However, Ronny Graham is way over the top as the show's "star." He comes off as a cross between Jerry Lewis and James Whitmore. Robert Clary is just plain obnoxious and gets ways too much screen time. The rest of the cast gets little to do other than chorus work.
Unbilled and missing from the IMDb cast list are Henry Kulky as the bill collector and Robert Emhardt as the rich daddy.
The film was directed by two men and is pretty bad with static cameras and those annoying shots that show us backstage reactions when performers are singing and dancing.
Trivia: Mel Brooks was one of the writers. Robert Clary was married to one of Eddie Cantor's daughters. Grimes and DeLuce won the 1952 Theatre World awards. Kitt's rendition of "C'est Si Bon" was not in the original show.
- drednm
- 27 mag 2011